Oconee County Schools Chief Financial Officer Peter Adams led off the first hearing on Thursday evening on the floating property tax exemption for homeowners, making the case to the Board that it should opt out of implementation of the exemption.
Adams took seven minutes for his presentation, telling the Board that financial obligations are continuing to increase annually and opting out allows the Board to maintain local control to best meet the needs of Oconee students.
Adams was followed by four Oconee County residents, each of whom told the Board that citizens already had spoken on the question, with 64 percent of the county’s voters on Nov. 5 approving a Constitutional Amendment setting up the floating homestead exemption.
The four had signed up to speak before the meeting began, and they were told they would be allowed to speak only for three minutes each. None reached that limit.
Another seven citizens attended the meeting but had not signed up to speak. They were not offered an opportunity to address the Board.
As soon as the four citizens finished their comments, Board Chair Michael Ransom ended the meeting. The five Board members and Superintendent Jason Branch, who was seated next to Ransom during the hearing, left the room without offering responses to the citizens.
By law, the Board must hold two more public hearings, one scheduled for 6 p.m. on Jan. 28, and the other for 4 p.m. on Feb. 3. Both are scheduled to be held at the Instructional Support Center, 71 North Main Street, Watkinsville, where the meeting on Thursday was held.
At this point, Board Members Ransom, Amy Parrish, and Ryan Hammock have decided to announce the Board’s intent to opt out of the homestead exemption, but a final vote by the full five-member Board to opt out can only be made after the third hearing on Feb. 3.
Reasons For Hearings
The comments by Chief Financial Officer Adams on Thursday largely mirrored those he gave to the Board at its meeting on Dec. 9, when he first briefed the Board on the details of the statewide homestead exemption.
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| Adams Approaching Podium 1/23/2025 |
While voters approved the Constitutional Amendment allowing for the floating homestead exemption on Nov. 5, implementation of the exemption was detailed in House Bill 581, passed with overwhelming support in the legislature in March.
The Board took no action following Adams’s presentation on Dec. 9, but Ransom has said he got approval from Parrish and Hammock to announce the intent of the Board to opt out of the exemption at some point later in December.
Oconee County Schools administrators announced the Board’s intention to opt out on Jan. 2 and listed the three public hearings required by House Bill 581.
According to Ransom, he did not seek approval of that decision from Adam Hammond and Brock Toole, who were elected to the Board on Nov. 5.
Hammond, Toole, and Ransom, who was elected to a new term on Nov. 5, were sworn in as Board members only at the Jan. 13 meeting of the Board.
The Board also elected Ransom as Board Chair at that meeting.
Adams’s Presentation
Adams began his comments on Thursday by telling the Board that House Bill 581 requires the Board “to hold three hearings for the purpose of listening to the public on any thoughts they may have on this matter.”
Adams said House Bill 581 enacts “a floating homestead exemption that limits the annual increase in property tax assessments to the federal inflationary rate for the prior year.”
“Homesteaded properties can increase at an as-yet-to-be determined inflationary rate,” he said.
“School districts have one opportunity to opt out of the legislation,” he said. "If they do not opt out, the cap will begin in 2025 based on 2024 values.”
“If they do opt out, they must follow an intent to opt out process,” he said, referring to the three required hearings and a final vote by the Board.
Oconee County Schools “projected local revenue collected would've decreased by $13.9 million over the last seven years if this law gone into effect already,” he said.
“The change could impact flexibility to meet local needs and maintain competitive benefits and salaries,” he said.
“With the inflationary rate capped by HB 581, OCS may have to increase the millage rate to maintain the level of service we offer to Oconee County students,” he added.
Need For Action Now
“Why opt out?” Adams asked.
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Suzanne Korngold, Assistant Superintendent of Special Education, With Adams At End Of Meeting 1/23/2025 |
“OCS has only one chance to opt out,” he said in response to his own question, “and the process must be completed by March 1, 2025. Therefore, there is not another chance, even if the legislation causes significant issues to OCS’s funding and cash flow.”
Adams pointed out that school districts are not authorized to seek voter approval for an additional sales tax.
House Bill 581 allows cities and counties, but not school districts, to ask voters to increase the local sales tax by 0.5 cents or 1 cent to offset the loss from the property tax revenue resulting from the floating homestead exemption.
“Opting out allows the Board to maintain local control over property tax policies and would have the ability to tailor tax rates to our specific community needs and financial conditions to meet the needs of a county’s students,” Adams said.
Questions From Board
When Adams had finished his comments, Board Member Hammock asked Adams if opting out of the statewide exemption would have any impact on the local homestead exemptions passed by the voters at the request of the Board of Commissioners in May.
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| Hammock 1/23/2025 |
Adams had said in his comments that opting out would have no impact on existing homestead exemptions, and House Bill 581 says explicitly that the floating exemption does not affect existing homestead exemptions set by the state or local governments.
Adams repeated that information in responding to Hammock.
Hammock then turned to the state funding through the Quality Basic Education (QBE).
The budget approved by the Board each year shows the estimated QBE funds and what is called the Local Fair Share of that formula, which is calculated as the amount of revenue 5 mills generates in that school district.
In the current fiscal year, the QBE funding was calculated as $70.9 million, of which Oconee County Schools was required to contribute $13.4 million as its Local Fair Share.
Hammock said on Thursday that “the first 5 mills go to the state per the QBE formula, so our local tax payers do not retain those locally.” At the Jan. 13 Board meeting, Adams described the Local Fare Share as a “reduction,” but Hammock persisted in referring to it as an outflow of county funds to the state.
Adams told Hammock on Thursday that the calculation of the 5 mill Local Fair Share will be based on the tax digest without the homestead exemptions, but the actual collection of taxes by the school district would be based on the tax digest with the homestead exemption.
Board Chair Ransom asked Adams if the state was likely to determine which inflation rate it is going to use in calculating the allowed growth in the tax digest before the Board votes to opt out or to not opt out.
Adams said he didn’t know the answer to that question.
Under the floating exemption, each year, the value of property will go up based on inflation. Schools that do not opt out will see increased revenue resulting from inflation, meaning that they will experience revenue increases at the level of inflation even without an increase in the millage rate.
If the Board does not opt out, however, the schools will not get the increase in revenue that comes about from assessment increases beyond the basic inflation rate.
Citizen Comments
The first speaker, who did not state his name loudly enough to be picked up by the camera, said he came to the hearing to learn about “this opt out thing” and might come back to ask additional questions at subsequent hearings.
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| From Nov. 5, 2024, Ballot |
“But I don't understand how you can even consider opting out when voters voted 64 percent for this bill,” he said. “That’s my question.”
Across the state, 62.9 percent of the voters approved the amendment. In Oconee County, the percentage of voters approving was just higher at 64.3 percent.
Ian Taylor, the next to speak, said that “HB 581 was passed overwhelmingly by the Georgia House and Senate and was voted on as a Constitutional Amendment by nearly two-thirds of Oconee County voters.”
The vote in the House on House Bill was 164 to 2. In the Senate, it was 52 to 0.
“For years many of us have asked, begged, pleaded, even demanded that our taxes not be excessively raised,” he said.
“I also find that somewhat odd, that whenever cuts in the funding are discussed it's always the emotional cry that teachers and students will suffer,” he said. “No mention is ever made of administration costs that could, and should, be decreased.”
“I don't believe you need to opt out,” he said. “I need you to please take into account what voters actually voted for. Nearly two-thirds of the voters said put a freeze on.”
More Comments
Bill Fox said “I agree with these other gentlemen. The voters voted for this.”
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| Porter Approaching Podium 1/23/2025 |
“The seniors are debating between food, taxes, living indoors, medicine,” he said. “We need some relief.”
Esther Porter said “one of the things we didn't realize as voters that you had that option” to opt out. “When we read the bill, we thought this was going to be an exemption for us,” she continued.
“It appears that you have substantial income other than taxes from the homeowners,” Porter said, referring specifically to interest income.
“I know it's your duty to take care of our school system, and you do have one of he finest school systems in the nation,” she said. “I think this Board should put into consideration the citizens that have voted that they would like this House Bill 581.”
“And I'm asking that you please not opt out,” she said.
Note: As of 1/28/2025, Oconee County Schools has not yet published the minutes of the meeting of 1/23/2025, but it has released the names of those who signed up as they entered the meeting room on that date. That list contains the name of Roy Baerne, the first speaker.
Video
The video below is of the Jan. 23 hearing, recorded from the rear of the meeting room as prescribed by Oconee County Commissioners Director Steven Colquitt.
Adams began his comments at 1:20 in the video.
Citizen comment starts at 10:06 in the video.
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